


With my short existence I can make a difference

by falloutboiruto



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum, Bad Parenting, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Family Issues, Fix-It, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Group chat, Mental Health Issues, Miscommunication, Nonbinary!Orochimaru, Sibling Bonding, Texting, Worry, dungeons and dragons?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-02-26 12:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18717385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutboiruto/pseuds/falloutboiruto
Summary: Mitsuki starts questioning his sanity, so he goes home to find out what's wrong with him.A slightly different interpretation of episode 105.





	1. Do it for him, and you’ll do it again

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys so i was so HYPE for episode 105 but then it turned out to be "top ten moments mitsuki got traumatized-the RECAP" so I just decided to write my own take on what i think should've happened during the episode! i decided to interpret the characters slightly CREATIVELY bc... it's fun...
> 
> beta read by: @reaperduckling  
> title from "do it for her" from the steven universe OST  
> warning for swearing and descriptions of anxiety

Despite being what his friends described as slightly emotionally stunted (technically they hadn’t said it in so many words, but it had certainly been the implication), Mitsuki decided that he knew what love felt like when he met the eyes of Mikazuki the kitten. Only figuratively speaking, of course, as the kitten mostly avoided direct eye contact. But honestly, that was only one more reason why it felt like a kindred spirit. 

In spite of(or maybe because of) the black-and-white kitten’s fervor to not let him sleep alone and attacking his feet with its needle-sharp claws at every available opportunity, he had quickly grown to care more about it than anything else in the world. His own wants and needs didn’t matter, as long as Mikazuki was content and happy.

From the reactions of his friends upon telling them this, he could somewhat gather that the emotions he felt were a teensy bit too intense to feel for a cat. But this was just how Mitsuki functioned: either he felt total apathy _or_ pure extreme obsessive self-sacrificing interest swallowing up and infecting all of his thoughts in a manner so all-consuming that he could barely think about anything else. And his feelings towards the kitten that sometimes visited him fell towards the latter side of the scale.

At least that was how it used to be until something suddenly shifted and his focus was directed towards an issue that he’d rather just ignore forever. It had always been at the back of his mind nagging at him, but he’d mostly been able to push it away and distract himself by thinking of other, more enjoyable subjects (that being Boruto and the newly introduced Mikazuki the cat). But now, it was in his dreams every night, haunting him. It was a thing that he felt was too awful to even name as even thinking about it for a second made his throat close up and it felt like he was simultaneously being twisted, turned inside out and ripped to shreds with every harsh breath he took.

Obviously, there was something wrong with him, and the cause was most likely his body and brain malfunctioning in some way. So, he asked Boruto and Sarada to catsit Mikazuki for him should the cat show up to Mitsuki’s apartment in his absence and went back home to his parent.

-*-

“So,” Orochimaru said. “What you’re saying is that you’re having nightmares wherein you re-live the night where you first saw a picture of Boruto and then decided that you wanted to go live in Konoha? _Interesting_.”

Log, who was also in the lab room, made a weird face almost like he was flinching in pain upon hearing these words. However he stayed completely quiet and his face quickly took on a neutral expression afterward, so Mitsuki dismissed it as yet another confusing but mostly unimportant social interaction to add to the endless pile of similarly indecipherable previous experiences. What mattered right now were the words his parent was saying as they were the one that could fix things and Mitsuki was in too much pain right now to focus on more than one thing at a time.

“It feels like I’m going insane,” Mitsuki said.

“Aren’t we all?” Orochimaru said with a crooked smile which also didn’t make _any_ sense, nothing made any sense anymore and Mitsuki felt like the world was disintegrating around him and

“Hey, are you ok?” Log suddenly asked, bringing Mitsuki’s world back into almost too-sharp focus. Everything in the lab from the buzz and beeping of the computers to the fluorescent lights in the ceiling was _too loud_ and _too bright_ and _too much._

“ _No_ ,” Mitsuki squeaked out.

“Hm. Very interesting indeed. Log and I are just going to step out for a second, we’ll be back soon,” Orochimaru said.

Mitsuki was left alone in the MRI scan machine while his family members left to the outside corridor, probably for a private conversation. However, he could easily hear their conversation through the wall (the insulation seemed to be pretty shoddy like the construction had been rushed and poorly done like it had all been a sham like _everything else_ ).

“Have you struggled with the same sort of feelings of anxiety, Log?” Orochimaru’s tinny voice asked.

“No. Despite Mitsuki and I being the same person, I have not.” Log said in a voice that sounded not very confident, somehow.

“ _Wrong_ , you ding dong!” Orochimaru said. “Sure, you are indeed genetic clones, but you’re not actually the same person. As I apparently have to keep telling you that was exactly what that dumb experiment was supposed to prove in the first place.”

“Why am I the dumb one? You’re the one who came up with the idea, I just did what you told me to. You started out with a perfectly good clone, but you screwed up catastrophically and look at him now! He has severe anxiety!”

“Yes. It’s very interesting, isn’t it?” Orochimaru said in a completely unreadable tone of voice. They could’ve basically meant anything by saying that, which was especially confusing to Mitsuki who often struggled with discerning underlying meaning in even the most basic of conversations. Also, not being able to see his parent’s face at all didn’t exactly help.

“Why do you _always_ do thi- _I mean_ , just think of what you’re saying for a minute here. I can literally hear Mitsuki breathing on the other side of that door, he’s most likely overhearing every word we say right now and you’re definitely not making him feel better!”

“Nonetheless, I am trying to help him the best I can. I think your current anger stems from the fact that deep down you know that you’re just as much to blame for his current predicament as I am. That’s why you’re so eager to pin the guilt on me. Am I correct?” Orochimaru said.

Suddenly there were sounds of rapid stomping footsteps that in an instant grew fainter and fainter. Orochimaru then almost immediately came into view again as they re-entered the lab room once more, except this time they were alone. Mitsuki had been so focused on eavesdropping that the noise of the door sliding open overwhelmed him completely.

“Log decided to storm away dramatically so we will continue without him for the while being,” they said humorlessly and sat back at their computer desk.

Mitsuki really, really didn’t know what to think. In fact, he could barely think at all.

-*-

Later on, Mitsuki’s parent told him that they needed some time to process the test results and that Mitsuki should “do something else for a little while”.

Mitsuki could not think of something else to do, not even for a little while. However, Log finally came back into the lab room with a placating smile.

“Hey, if you want a distraction we can go into the basement and do a bonding activity together? I promise it’s not going to be anything related to pretending to attempt to murder you,” Log said while lightly tapping Mitsuki on the shoulder, speaking with the careful and tender cadence of a deathbed attendee.

“Sure,” Mitsuki said. As long as it really wasn’t pretend-attempted murder it did actually sound like a little bit fun.

After walking down a very, very long flight of stairs and a likewise seemingly endless corridor they arrived in a small, dark room that was dominated by a big round table in the middle. At the table, two men sat. It was Suigetsu and… _Yamato_?

“Welcome to our roleplaying group! We play a tabletop game called _Offices and Deadlines_!” Suigetsu announced grandly like he’d been rehearsing it beforehand.

“It’s so fun, even I’m here,” Yamato smiled.

“Uh,” Mitsuki said while sitting down at the table, mostly because his brother physically pushed him down on a chair.

“Yeah, that’s it. _Join us_!” Log said in a slightly disturbing cult-like manner. "In the game, you play as a normal office worker and your goal is to navigate workplace drama while making sure that all the accounting gets done before the deadline. Hence the name!”

“What’s accounting?” Mitsuki asked.

“Who cares? I _sure don’t_ since I maliciously and regularly commit tax fraud,” Suigetsu said. “However accounting isn’t the focus of the game so technically you don’t even have to know. It’s really fun and easy to play, I promise!” he continued and pulled out a 50-sided dice, an extremely thick book that said _Rules_ on the front and a worn notebook, all from under the table.

“Want to play?” Yamato said while goofily wiggling his eyebrows.

“Sure,” Mitsuki shrugged. _Anything_ to get his mind off things.

-*-

“So, what did you think?” Log asked. Everyone in the room was expectantly looking at Mitsuki like they were expecting something from him. An opinion on the game they had just played, perhaps?

“I kind of wish there had been more math,” Mitsuki said.

“Oh, come on!” said Yamato as he gesticulated wildly with his hands. “You have it so easy with your kid smarts, but math is not for adults! When you get to my age your brain will melt from just looking at simple addition!”

“Yeah, think of our poor brains, Mitsuki! Don’t be selfish!” Suigetsu said.

“I don’t want to play anymore,” Mitsuki said while hastily getting up from his chair and trying to leave the room.

“Guys! I told you that Mitsuki is really sensitive right now and for you to be nice to him! And you do _this_?” Log protested. “I won’t hesitate to put a banana peel in your bed if you keep being mean to my little brother, Suigetsu!”

Suigetsu flinched in fear while holding onto the table with a vice grip for dear life (and possibly emotional support).

“N-Not a banana peel!” Suigetsu whimpered.

Mitsuki had been awkwardly standing in the doorway watching the scene unfold, but when Log asked him if he wanted to play another game he declined. He just wanted to go to bed.

-*-

Mitsuki woke up in the middle of the night to the dark and blurry sight of someone standing in the shadows in the middle of his room, staring at him.

“Oh, you’re awake!” his parent said. “You can go back to sleep, I’m just standing here.”

“…how long have you been doing that for?” Mitsuki droned sleepily.

“A couple of hours. Don’t mind me, I’m just monitoring your sleep patterns for research purposes.”

Mitsuki just rolled over to his other side and tried to fall asleep again. It was probably just a normal, _mostly harmless_ parent thing.

-*-

In the morning after, Mitsuki still felt pretty damn bad. He was slightly excited about possibly getting the test results back, though.

“Yeah, let’s see…” Orochimaru said, sorting through a large file of papers in the lab. "I analyzed the data and to me, it seems like, _uh_ , pardon my language, but we fucked up. Also, the loss of your little Fabrication friend was clearly _quite_ traumatizing. _So_. What we can do here is to erase all of your memories and then you won’t feel bad anymore.”

“Uh,” Mitsuki said. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Log was bouncing his leg restlessly and seemingly purposefully avoiding to look at him. _Huh._

“So, what do you say? Drugs, yes or no?” Orochimaru said while doing that weird half-smile again.

“I don’t want to forget my friends. I’ll just talk to them about what happened and then I’ll feel better, probably.”

“Interesting choice,” his parent said. “Well, off you go then. Talk to Boruto and Girl-Sasuke and those other guys. I’m sure it’ll turn out _great_.”

This did, actually, somehow make Mitsuki feel a little bit better.

-*-

Mitsuki had gathered his things and was just about to cross the bridge to finally go home when he heard someone yelling his name. He turned around and saw his brother running towards him, black cloak swirling around him.

“Mitsuki, wait!” Log shouted. When he caught up to Mitsuki, his general demeanor was very similar to the way Mitsuki had felt the day before.

_Depressed._

 “What’s wrong?” Mitsuki asked.

“I just think it was awesome that you didn’t go through with the memory wipe.” Log said nervously. “Frankly, I think it was wrong of _them_ to even suggest it in the first place but what do I know, right?”

“Ok,” Mitsuki said. He didn’t really know what else to say.

Log seemed like he didn’t know that either, so they just stared at each other for a second that quickly dragged on into several minutes.

“Look…” Log said shakily, interrupting their silent staring competition. “I just think that a lot of the anxiety you feel can be traced back to the night where our parent and I pulled that weird _scheme_ on you. I was unmistakably a part of that, and that is something that I’ll regret forever. I guess what I want to say is that _I’m sorry_. For just going along with whatever our parent says and not thinking how it would affect you.”

“I forgive you. I’ve done worse on our parent’s orders, honestly.” Mitsuki said. “I once attempted to kill a girl in my class because they thought it would be beneficial in their search for power and knowledge. But here’s the thing: I stopped going along with things like that because I realized that they were bad and I didn’t want to do them. You can do that too.”

“ _Ugh_... It’s just that all my life, our parent has told me what to do. I don’t know what or who I would be if I just took my own decisions for a change,” Log said while shuffling on his feet and kicking at bits of gravel laying on the ground.

“What do you mean?” Mitsuki asked.

“That was your purpose!” Log said. “You’re supposed to be the one who’d develop a will of your own, and I was rooting for you to be the first and only one of our parent’s science experiments who could actually become your own person. Without _their_ influence. Synthetically created beings like us, by the way, have a terrible track record. We all go insane eventually so I was honestly just hoping that even if I would never escape this place, you’d be able to.”

Mitsuki was quiet for a beat while he thought of what to respond with.

“Are you so jittery and weird right now because you aren’t smoking around me?” Mitsuki asked, finally.

“ _Wha_ \- how did you know?” Log sputtered. ”I mean, yeah. I guess. Look Mitsuki, oversharing aside I know we’re not very close but I actually really want to be. I just want you to think that I’m cool, honestly.”

“You don’t have worry about me thinking that you’re cool,” Mitsuki said. “I already think so. We’re family, you know.”

There was a moment of companionable silence while Log twiddled his thumbs slightly less nervously.

“Also, if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this time it's that all beings have their own will," Mitsuki said. “You do too. Again, it’s never too late to change.”

“Look at you, giving _me_ life advice,” Log chuckled. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Mitsuki shrugged. It didn’t really matter to him, honestly.

“So, uh…” Log began tentatively. “Do you know of any cool new viral dance crazes you could tell me about? I’ve heard that most children like those.”

Mitsuki laughed too, an action that still felt very new and unfamiliar to him.

“I can’t say that I understand them, but _yes_ …”

Mitsuki had a feeling that when he’d soon return to Konoha and tell his friends about what had happened back home, Boruto would be especially proud of this.

-*-

Well back in Konoha, Mitsuki went looking for his friends in the first place he assumed they’d be: the fine dining establishment _Thunder Burger_. Upon entering said burger joint the first thing he could see was Boruto(and the back of Sarada’s head) sitting at one of the booths. Boruto responded to Mitsuki’s arrival by giving him a thousand-watt smile, waving both of his hands in the air excitedly and making nearly incomprehensible sounds of joy (Mitsuki could get the gist of it, though).

“Boruto, _what_ are you doing?” Sarada’s back-facing silhouette muttered tiredly.

When she then turned around she started immediately mirroring Boruto's behavior, save for all the squeals and gibberish. Mitsuki sat down next to them, preparing himself for his friends to bombard him with questions. They didn’t though, they just stared at him expectantly.

“ _Uh_ ,” Mitsuki said. He felt kind of caught off guard by all this close attention.

“So… Are you feeling _better_ now?” Sarada asked curiously. “You said you were feeling really sad.”

“And Sarada and I, your absolute best friends in the whole wide world, are always here to listen to you!” Boruto added. “Did your parent find out what was wrong with you?”

“Yeah,” Mitsuki said. “Something bad happened to me.”

“By _something_ , do you mean…?” Sarada said.

Mitsuki stared at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She didn’t though, she just left the end of her sentence dangling in a very confusing way.

“What do _you_ think?” Mitsuki asked.

“I didn’t do anything insensitive again without realizing it, did I?” Boruto said, suddenly nervous.

“ _No_?” Mitsuki said, utterly dumbfounded. “I was just feeling sad because when while I was in the Land of the Earth, I befriended one of the fabrications. His name was Sekiei and he died because of me.”

 _“What?!”_ Sarada and Boruto screamed in unison. Boruto even dropped his entire soda into his lap but didn't seem to even notice.

“Uh, that actually really really sucks, Mitsuki," Sarada said sympathetically, quickly schooling her shock into supportiveness. “If you need to talk about it, we’re here. Also, I think Konohamaru-sensei could be really helpful with that kind of stuff.”

“ _Ye_ ,” Boruto replied monosyllabically . “I mean… sorry, I’m not very good with words _or_ emotions but I totally agree with Sarada. We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”

Mitsuki pondered that for a moment.

 “As I've said before I want to stay here in Konoha and be your team-mate for the future.” Mitsuki said. “That decision has not and will never change. Becoming you guys’ friend has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Boruto all but jumped on Mitsuki and embraced him in a soda-wet and very sticky hug. Sarada also got out of her seat and turned said hug into a group one.

“Ugh, Boruto. You’re _disgusting_ right now,” Sarada giggled.

“Sounds great to me! Then we all get to be disgusting together, hehe!” Boruto replied while sounding choked up like he suddenly had a stuffy nose for some reason. Which didn’t really make sense, but Mitsuki just went with it.

This was everything he had ever wanted, and it truly was his choice this time around.


	2. As you’re moving backwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the Boruto POV you've all been waiting for???? ehhe

“Uh, do you remember which way Mitsuki’s apartment is?” Boruto asked. He stared a bit more at the road intersection they were standing in. Staring at it unsurprisingly didn’t make him remember any better.

“Yes, of course! We’ve been there several times, you dummy!” Sarada giggled.

“I was just joking!” Boruto backtracked hastily.

“S _ure_ ,” Sarada said and started walking in what most presumably was the right direction.

“I don’t forget stuff!” Boruto shouted as he sped up his steps to catch up with her.

“Uh-huh,” Sarada said only slightly condescendingly.

Boruto did not like this. Not at all. But he had _a very important_ mission today, and mustn’t get distracted! Mitsuki had posted _a very important_ message in the group chat yesterday, and Boruto would rather throw away his entire collection of Ninja Bout cards off a bridge than let down his friend. Even the _really_ cool cards!

 **Mitsuki(Tuesday 18.45 pm):** Not feeling well. I’m going away to my parent, and I don’t know when I’ll come back. Please leave food out for Mikazuki.

 **Boruto Uzumaki(Tuesday 10.46 pm):** oh are you feeling sad or sick or something?

 **Mitsuki(Tuesday 10.55 pm):** Yes. We can talk about it when I get back.

 **Sarada Uchiha(Wednesday 7.03 am):** Sorry, I was busy and then asleep, so I didn’t see this until now. Sure thing, Mitsuki!

 **Boruto Uzumaki(Wednesday 8.30 am):** yeeee count on us!

It was past noon by now and Mitsuki’s failure to respond did make Boruto feel slightly on edge. Not a lot though, just a little bit.

“Hey, just an _innocent_ question…” Boruto began. “Do you think that Orochimaru would do anything to hurt Mitsuki? Nah, as if! Unpossible!”

Boruto slapped his knee for extra flair and coughed up a forced laugh, but immediately stopped in his tracks when he looked at Sarada. She looked tired. _Worn_ , like an old crumpled up paper that had no business being alike a facial expression belonging to a twelve-year-old girl.

“You know…” She said. “Both yes and no? However there’s nothing we can do until he gets back, so there’s no point in worrying about it right now.”

This _absolutely_ made Boruto worry.

-*-

When Sarada opened the door to Mitsuki’s apartment, they were immediately met by the sight of a pair of pointy triangle ears perking up on the bed. There sure was a cat there. A _cat_. C A T.

“Oh, I love them! They’re so cute!” Boruto gushed. As soon as he could wrangle his shoes off, he sprinted to the bed and held out his hand for Mikazuki to smell. Mikazuki, however, promptly bit him.

“Uh, are you crying?” Sarada said. “It couldn’t have hurt that bad.”

“I’m just crying because I love them so much.” Boruto sniffed.

“Oh. Okay,” Sarada scoffed(but not unkindly) and refilled the food and water bowls. She then came over to the bed and slowly reached for Mikazuki, who headbutted her hand in a totally extremely adorable way. _Really._

“Oh, come on! What does she have that I don’t?” Boruto said in a _totally_ normal speaking voice (to his ears, at least).

“Well, maybe it’s that you’re too loud. Cats don’t like that.”

_“No!”_

Sarada gave him an evaluating look that a lot of people had given Boruto throughout his life. It always meant one thing: he was always too much, too loud, too forgetful and too clumsy. Even though he had technically excelled at most subjects at school, he had always been too much at _everything_.

Or maybe that would mean that the famed ‘look’ Sarada was currently giving him actually meant several things? Anyways, Sarada didn’t say anything as a response and just continued to pet Mikazuki. Boruto was not jealous. He just was _not_.

“Well, maybe we’re done here for today,” he said, like someone absolutely not feeling jealous.

“I’m not done yet, though!” Sarada said while scratching Mikazuki’s belly. It looked like fluffy heaven on earth.

Boruto was _extremely_ jealous.

-*-

 **Boruto Uzumaki(Wednesday 2.14 pm):** mitsuki we went over to your place and said hi to mikazuki!

 **Sarada Uchiha(Wednesday 2.27 pm):** They were super cuddly, so I bet they miss you!

 **Boruto Uzumaki(Wednesday 2.30 pm):** hehe ye. anywayz how’s it going at your parent’s place? :)

 **Boruto Uzumaki(Wednesday 5.02 pm):** mitsuki?

-*-

That afternoon, Boruto and Sarada met up at Thunder Burger at Boruto’s request.

“Mitsuki hasn’t responded since yesterday! Do you think he’s dead because Orochimaru killed him?” Boruto said conspiratorially.

“No?” Sarada said. “I think you’re reading too much into it, honesty. He’ll walk through the door any minute now, don’t worry.”

Boruto decided to let it slide and for the moment just take of a sip of his soda, but he didn’t really believe her. At least not until Mitsuki literally walked through the door seconds later.

-*-

“I can’t believe that I spilled my entire soda on myself!” Boruto exclaimed as they were all walking home together.

“I _can_ ,” Sarada deadpanned.

“Me too. It’s pretty much expected at this point,” Mitsuki said nonchalantly.

“Guys!” Boruto whined. They were even ganging up on him now! _The nerve_!

“It’s not a bad thing though,” Mitsuki said.

“Yeah! It would be really boring without you around,” Sarada smiled and patted Boruto on the back, then seemed to immediately regret her actions and wiped her now soda-sticky hand on her shorts.

“You really think so?” Boruto asked immediately, surprising himself with how much he desperately anticipated the answer.

Sarada rolled her eyes, giggling. Mitsuki nodded solemnly.

Boruto took both of those responses as a definite yes. Two of them, actually.


	3. Balance is the key

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter!! Sarada POV!! yeeyeeYAAayyee

The prospect of catsitting Mikazuki for even just one day would have made Sarada feel ecstatic, so Mitsuki’s request for her and Boruto to catsit for an undetermined amount of time (Days? Weeks? Who knew?) did make her pretty damn happy. Of course, the possible weirdness and uncertainness of Mitsuki visiting his parent looming over her like a dark cloud wasn't what she'd like to focus on. At this moment, there was a cat to pet! What could go wrong?

Boruto thought otherwise, though.

“Hey, just an _innocent_ question…” Boruto said in a speculative tone anything other than innocent. “Do you think that Orochimaru would do anything to hurt Mitsuki? Nah, as if! Unpossible!”

Sarada would rather not think of that at the moment. She would rather think about:

C

A

T

!

-*-

Mikazuki really was adorable. Even if they did that thing where they’d roll on their back and when Sarada would (of course!”) rub their belly, they would attack her hands with needle-sharp teeth and claws. Of course, this didn’t stop Sarada from giving Mikazuki belly rub after belly rub.

“Maybe we should wear gloves next time we catsit. Which hopefully is in a while! But who knows! Maybe Mitsuki will just never come back this time! Mikazuki would have to replace him as our third team member! I sure would _not_ like that…” Boruto said in a voice that morphed from sour to _obviously-wanting-to-talk-about-something-Sarada-would-rather-ignore._

“I’m already wearing sort-of gloves! It’s _you_ that should get with the program!” Sarada said while doing extraneous fingerless gloves-clad jazz hands.

Boruto just scoffed at her. Maybe they were _kind of_ done here for the day, anyway.

-*-

**Boruto Uzumaki sent a private message to Sarada Uchiha.**

**Boruto Uzumaki(Wednesday 5.03 pm):** hey do you want to go to thundrer burgrer

**Boruto Uzumaki:** i need to talk to you about something. it’s nothing big though i’m just wondering something small no biggie

**Boruto Uzumaki:** it’s about mitsuki

**Sarada Uchiha(Wednesday 5.17 pm):** Sure?

-*-

When Sarada well got to Thunder Burger, it appeared as though Boruto had lied about the thing he wanted to talk about being insignificant.

“Mitsuki hasn’t responded since yesterday! Do you think he’s dead because Orochimaru killed him?” Boruto said while almost bouncing out of his seat and tapping both feet frantically on the floor.

Boruto’s theory was obviously a stretch, but he did have a fair point. It soon was confirmed to be completely false, however.

-*-

After Mitsuki finally had shown up at Thunder Burger, they had their big group hug of closure and also had reassured Boruto’s weird inferiority complex on the way walking home. All together, Sarada felt like today had been a day well spent. However, there were some unanswered questions hanging in the air that she finally had time to address. Boruto cut her to the chase though.

“So, uh. Mitsuki,” Boruto said stiltedly. “You said that you were feeling sad about a friend of yours dying. Which is only natural and we can talk about it any time you want! But what did your parent say that you should do about it? I’m just _curious_.”

“Oh, _that_. Well, they offered me advice, but I don’t think it was very good. I didn’t follow through with it,” Mitsuki said offhandedly.

“What kind of advice?” Sarada asked.

“I think you actually wouldn’t want to know that,” Mitsuki said. “It’s all very complicated. I’ll spare you the details.”

“ _Well_ ,” Sarada said. “I don’t want to force you, but I think the fatal flaw in our group in the past has definitely been lack of communication. Maybe you could tell Konohamaru-sensei, at least?”

“Maybe later,” Mitsuki said with a weird smile that Sarada was 100% sure was fake.

Boruto raised an eyebrow at Sarada like he had come to the exact same conclusion. 

_“He doesn’t want to talk about it,”_ Sarada mouthed while shrugging at Boruto.

Well, _maybe later_ was better than _never_ , right?

-*-

In a perfect world, Sarada wouldn’t feel the need to be Team Mom for her two team-mates and feel responsible all the time for their well-being. Maybe her micro-managing nature was more detrimental than nurturing when faced with A) a mess of a deeply insecure friend who would rather jump off a cliff than be vulnerable for even _a second_ , and B) a silent brick wall of a friend that never wanted to talk about _it_ in a way Sarada could actually understand.

But to be fair, looking back on today maybe both friend A(Boruto) and friend B(Mitsuki) had actually tried opening up in their own, emotionally incompetent ways? Maybe if they all would meet half-way, Sarada’s hair wouldn’t go _all grey_ before turning 25 years old. However, it wasn’t like a little grey hair mattered all that much. By that time rolled around, she would surely be donning a ceremonial Hokage hat that would cover it up nicely.

_The End_

**Author's Note:**

> please leave kudos and comments if u like dis hehe


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